Special_Olympic

Special Olympic Daniel, a 4-year-old with Down's Syndrome, has a developmental age of between 2 and 3 years, and the communication skills of a 1- to 2-year-old. He spends half his day in an early childhood class designed specifically for special-needs children. He spends the other half of his day in a regular prekindergarten class, where he requires almost constant attention from the teacher and is not progressing with his classmates. The question that is now before his admission, review and dismissal (ARD) committee is whether he should continue to be included in the prekindergarten classroom. The larger question is, should he ever have been included in the first place' The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA as it is commonly known, prescribes the obligations and responsibilities of school districts toward the education of children with disabilities. One of the most difficult elements of this law has proven to be the requirement that children with disabilities be educated in the "least restrictive environment" appropriate for the particular child. Daniel's was the leading case on the issue of least restrictive environment. His case, Daniel R.R. v. State Board of Education (5th Cir. 1989), was student, regular, district, daniel, court, classroom, case, program, education, restrictive, management, disabilities, behavior, whether, teacher, should, school, prekindergarten, needs, least, environment, day, children, been, time, student's, placed, non-disabled, included, include, early, disability, decided, daniel's, class